Sam's question

Last week Sam reflected on an aspect of rural life that is sometimes hard to come by in the urban environments – stillness. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you hit pause on reading this and go and check it out here. It reinforced to me the need to ensure there is a practice of stillness in my weekly rhythm. It’s easy to forget being still, a practice of stillness or centring prayer could just be the perfect antidote to the rush of modernity and its attempt to enforce our participation.

Sam concluded his reflection with a question to us, and it’s a really good question: What do you consider to be the blessings of our rural context that you want to thank God for? And which of those blessings might the urban church learn from?

With stillness already taken, let’s consider other aspects of the rural context, and how it might be a blessing in other contexts.

I’d like to consider two things, beauty and connection.

I begin with beauty. In fact, beauty is central to all things - to life, love, God, creation, re-creation, worship, the list is endless. Of course, you can experience beauty in an urban setting in a multitude of ways, beauty is all around us and within us, if only we have eyes to see, ears to hear and willing hearts to receive and offer beauty. But to enter the  beauty of our wild spaces and natural environments, seems to be to enter into the art (and the heart) of God. The Creator’s hand is that of a master craftsman, way beyond comprehension. God brought forth the beauty of our wonderful world from nothing (creatio ex nihilo), and of course, God saw that it was good. For us, the recipients of this wondrous love and inhabitants of this gift, we find peace by a gentle flowing river or beside a calm seashore; there is challenge and wildness on a high mountain pass; there is stillness at daybreak on a sunny, windless summer’s morning out in the fields; and there is refuge and magical intricacy in the forest. All these places draw us towards God of course, and are made to nourish us at the level of the soul, and invite us into union with Father, Son, and Spirit.

This is a gift we who reside in rural localities can offer to guests. We can extend the invite into beauty – here you may find the rest your soul needs, and you may hear the voice of One calling your name through the joy of experiencing the art and heart of God.

I think another of the main aspects of living in rural settings that I observe is the theme of connection. If you live somewhere that has also been the home of your family and previous generations, there is a deep sense of story and place connected to the landscape for you. There is history there woven into the fabric of the land that you simply can’t experience in the same way if you’re an ‘in-comer’. I have also never heard anyone from an urban context, talk in such a manner. As someone who has moved around quite a lot in my life and in all honesty, is quite comfortable with a nomadic existence, I sometimes find myself envious of those who speak, in an almost mythic manner, of the depth of connection they experience in their home.

The history of the landscape and the people who came before also help to shape identity. The stories and songs of soil and soul, of hardship and triumph, are so entrenched in community life that they are often the glue that binds folks together. One would hope that strangers, visitors, nomads, wayfarers, and seekers would also find welcome at the community ‘table’ and belonging around the hearth.

God encourages these locals to welcome such weary travellers, whether they be simply passing through or settling…..

When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. – Leviticus 19:33-34

When my family moved from Cornwall to Dunbar in southeast Scotland, we were warmly welcomed in. Yes, there are families who have lived here for generations, and a sense of home is something I may never experience. But the welcome was heart-felt and honest, and we learned much from this wonderful wee coastal town about the richness of local community and how to welcome the wonderers.

I could have spoken at length about other aspects of rural life that I’m thankful for and which the urban church could learn from, but these are two that I focussed in on today. Perhaps we could talk of the longevity we find in rural communities – what an answer to quick-fix options and throw-away culture; we could talk of slowing down – what a way to, as Dallas Willard encouraged, ruthlessly eliminate hurry; we could talk of soil in your fingers, of free-range kids running through fields and rockpools, of living close to wildlife and seasons, of the smell of farms and harbours, and we could talk of wide-open spaces and thin places…… but for now, let us rest in beauty and connection. May we find both in our rural communities, but more importantly in the arms of a loving God who makes it all happen and who came as a man to inhabit this wonderful gift with us; and may we continue to share this reality with those we welcome in.

Blessings,

Jon

Jon Timms

Joint CEO, Rural Ministries p.s. thanks for the prompt Sam.